cyberkill

I'm in the middle of changing stock shocks and springs to Bilsteins and Strano, and right now doing the rear on my 01 SS w TTops (don't know if that makes a difference).

I read a few writeups, watched some Youtube vids, and read LS1howto, and all these seem to suggest that after putting jackstands on the frame (not anywhere near the suspension), removing the nuts from the rear struts, and lowering the pumpkin, you should be able to just reach in and yank the springs out.

I tried and tried and it is not coming out. It barely even wiggles when I shake it. I tried hand-compressing it a little while pulling, I tried pushing down on the control arm while pulling...nothing. I just got back from Advanced Auto with a spring compressor. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

96LT1Z

i dont know what video you watched or who said that..
The springs are some what loose once you jack the car up, but the certainly wont just slid out by hand.
A spring compressor would work fine, or you could use a crow bar and just pry them out. Just be careful it doesnt shoot out a you

maroonls1z

what kind of rear end do you have? did u pull the bottom of the shock off the rear? at that point it should hang low enough to just pull them out

96LT1Z

go to 13:30

maroonls1z

he left the shock attached so he needed to compress it a bit, if u take the bolt off the shock and pull it out of the rear it will hang a few inches lower and you dont have to do that. Now if you have an aftermarket rear, the perches are deeper and the springs are harder to get on and off

96LT1Z

I gotcha, when i did mine that how i did it, i guess theres different ways to look at it

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

I usually lightly pry mine out and they are lowering springs. Stockers would definitely need some persuasion.

02TransAm/Batmobile

iTrader: (32)

What part of Chicago are you located at? Maybe I could lend a hand.

Josh18Fan

iTrader: (2)

My old springs damn near would fall out on their own with the rear lowered (shocks still bolted on). New Stranos went in with just a little elbow grease.

1320Chicken

iTrader: (4)

Just changed out mine today. I let the rear hang, didn't unbolt anything and used a 2ft pry bar to pop them out. That was also on a s60 with a taller perch. All in all took about 10 mins start to finish.

82cetuner

iTrader: (9)

I didnt undo my shocks I just jacked it up and got on the ground right under the spring and pushed, it wasnt easy but I basicly bench pressed them out LOL

Flubyux2

Talk about half assed.

Unbolt the shocks and the Sway bar end links.
The springs will literally fall out.

LOHRTBT

iTrader: (12)

This is not always true, it took me Several hours to do this by myself due to the same issues. I ended up taking the exhaust off, panhard bar off, rear shocks unhooked, lca's unhooked and still had to pry the sumbitches out and it was far from easy. On other cars I have had them fall out with no issues, literally took 5 mins to complete both sides, not this car though.

sam95transam

I remember thinking the same thing when I did mine. Everyone said "they'll fall out".

cyberkill

Thanks for the offer 02TA (I live in Schaumburg, btw), along with everyone who replied! I ended up finishing the rears yesterday by using spring compressors to take the old ones out. Since the Stranos are lower by 1.2" (or so), putting them in on the drivers side was pretty easy, but passenger side was pretty tough. On the drivers side, just by myself, I just put a bit of strength in it and was able to slowly slide it on the perch. That wasn't happening on the passenger side, though. A buddy of mine swung by while I was putting them in, and basically, I stood my overweight *** on the rotor, and he was able to push the spring onto the perch (again, with some strength).

We're thinking the bushings are worn more on the driver's side, and that's why it was harder to remove/load the spring on the pass side than the drivers side. So...maybe time for new LCA/PHB while I'm at it

Sometimes I think reading writeups are bad for me, because when they say things like "it should just come out" and it doesn't, I get paranoid that I'm doing something wrong.

Thanks again everyone! After a quick business trip, time for fronts!

Flubyux2

I don't understand why the exhaust would need to be touched. It goes up and over the axle in a normal fbody.

The only thing that keeps the springs from literally falling to the ground is the phb. That and the centering sleeves on the lower perchs. The springs have to be lifted up and over the lower perch.

My drive shaft DID rub the clamp on my exhaust. But it didn't hang up.

camarokid91

Taking the bottom strut bolts (19mm I think) off should be enough to push the rear end down and they should come out. It help if you have a second pair of hands to push the rearend down while you pull them out. If this doesnt work I would take a panhard bolt off to let the rear end fully drop to the ground.

maroonls1z

LCA are 19mm, shock is 21mm

Tbird232ci

iTrader: (4)

I removed the swaybar endlinks and the axle dropped another few inches and the springs pretty much fell out.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

BINGO!